Cotton-picker&#39;s truck.



Wiincsse I No. 764,447, PATENTED JULY 5, .1904.

.LPRANEK.

UOTTON PIGKER'S TRUCK.

APPLIGATION FILED 00T.6, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

llnrirnn Patented. .llniy ii, It 994i,

it? ill 'l' T if") it i l til it ti: it it it til tilt I SPECIFICATION forming part of" Letters Patent .t'iio. "R'E'wdfltt'Y, dated Julyii, MiG t. Application filed October 6, 1903. Serial 1%. 175,970, he inmiehi To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, Jnnos iiinissn, a citizen of the United States, residi'ngnt Garwood, in the county of Colorado and hitote ot' ilcnss, have invented a new and useful Uottor1-lhchers Truck, of which the following is :t specification.

This invention relates trucks, and has for truck for supporting a cotton-pichcfis soc-l t Wl'llCll is adopted to he propelled tl'irough n cottondield in such relation to the rows of ctt0n-plnnts as to nmterinlly ineilitote the operation of picking the cotton from the phints and gathering it'in a sock.

A further object of the invention to provide mesns whereby the eotton-picl er may be enabled to pick cotton With less fatigue than in the ordinary manner andv with less expo sure to the heat of the sun, thereby effecting at saving in energy and enabling the picker through such saving to pick a grenter quentity r cotton in the course of the day.

With the above ohjectsin view and others which will appear 218 the invention is more fully disclosed the some consists in the construction and combination oi the elements hereinafter described, il lnstrntod in the accompanying drawings, and having the novel Fen-- tures thereof pointed out in the appended claims,

in the drawings, Figure l is a view in perspective oi the invention complete, the hog being indicated in position upon the support therefor by means of dotted lines, so as to avoid obscuring the supporting structure. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional View showing the mode of: attachment of the sent to the supporting-frame. Fig. 3 is a detail View in pereaters, .1 designates e transverse freine-her speetivc of tl-ie'breckct used for supporting the sunshade.

hell the figures of the drawings corresponding parts are designated by the some cheracters of reference throughout. Referring to the d re wings by reference cl nu rigidly i'tttachcd at its ends to uprights 52 2 end braced thereon by oblique members 3 3, the

ends of which are rigidly secured to snid crossbnr and said uprights, as shown. it are hori I thus holding the sock-open,

to cotton pickers its ()lJJBCh to provide it,

zonti'd hnrs secured to said uprights nud convi'irging lOl'Wttltl toward thcforwnid mom her 5, to which they are rignlli' :ii' tnched. 6 6

are oblique hrncc inenihers attached at their ends to the upright nieniher 5 and to uprights 2 2 and also attached interi ncdinte their ends to horizrmtnl hers siat The incnihers thus for emnncrntcd constitute n triangular llrinne the ports of which are rigidly connected throughout and which is supported by means 01 wheels l" l", mounted in forks ti at the lower ends of uprights :3 2, and 2t wheel ll, mounted in n fork it) in the lower end of upright 11,"\vhich is attached to n 'iright 5 hy mciins o'l pintles .12, which engage eychoits 13 provided on the upright 5, so that the upright ii is adopted to swing freely,

The truck is nhove described is' adopted to straddle two rows of cottonplents in it held, the wheels T lying external to the two rows and the wheel 9 lying in the space be tween the two rows, said Wheel ll heing directed fol-word in the line of travel 01" the lrrnno.

Attached to the transverse lJtt-l l in any suitable nninner, hut preferably hr moons of the bolts used in securing thereto the ends or" hrsces 3 3, is ndcpending frame hi, comprising the arms 15, the upporends of which are attached. to cross-hair i, arms Ill), attached to ttt'mS 15 near the top and diverging downwnrdly therefrom, erossdmrs l? at the lower ends of arms nod 16,:1nd u lIHISIwG'bOiIILi 1.8, secured in on suitnhle nnninerto c-ross-.h:trs 'll'. ".llhc frame It forms it support for the cotton-pickefis seek (designated ti) and has the hose the-root raised a considoinhle distance shove-the ground to prevent contact there with. in order to keep the sock open when supported on the t'rztn1e,l provide on the arms 15 a curved strip of Minot-nil 19, preferably bent into the form shown and comprising the bowed part 2-0 end the two terminels Q1, Whihh are secured to thonrins 1h. The howed.

portion is spnccd from the arms 15hr bending the tei ninols 2i sway from sold owns, this structure being employed to pen init'the top of the seek to he turneddown over the howcd portion 20 oi the support, no shown in .lli'ig.

' sertion of a rod 27 into one or another of the l and will place his sack in position on the basei were oppositely disposed.

backward between the two rows before he pair of arms 33, spaced apart sufficiently for 'th picker will at once observe any tendency 1, and supporting the top at a suitable height above the base-board 18. p

Attached to upright 11 and fork 10 is a. seatsupporting frame 22, comprising horizontal arms 23, attached to the lowcrends of the fork l0, and oblique arms 24L," attached to upright 11 above said fork 10, the arms 23 and 24: being connected at their point of intersectionand the arms on either side of the wheel 9 being spaced apart by a block 25. Arms 24 are provided at intervals with transverse openings 26 for the passage of a rod 27, which extends through side arms 28 of a seat 29, which is designed to be occupied during the picking operation by the cotton-picker. The seat 29 is disposed rearwardly from the upright 11 and is adapted to be adjusted in position on the supporting-frame 22 by the inopenings 26 provided in the arms 24.

In order to. protect the cotton picker from the sun while stooping over to gather the cotton from the plants, I attach to the upright 11 justfbelow the end of upright 5 a canopy 30 of any suitable construction, which is secured to the upright 11 by means of a pin 31' and bracket, 32, secured to the sup 'iortingframe of the canopy. The bracket 32 has a the upright 11 to enter between them, and a plurality of openings 3 1 are provided in the upright 11 for the passage of the pin 3,1,which also passes through openings provided for it in the arms 33.

In using my truck the cottonticker will set the frame astride of two rowso cotton, with the wheel 9 in the space between theirofws,

board 18 of the frame 14, as above explained. He will then take his seat on the seat 29: which will have been regulated in height to suit the size'ot' the picker, and will then proceed between the rows, picking fronieither side as he goesand propelling the machine by pushing with his legs from time to time. The seat2d is forward in the 'linri of travel, this arrangement beingadopted because xyhen looking backward the picker will be able to propel the machine better by :ushingbacluvanl with his legs than he would be able to do if the seat The swivel connectionbetween the upright 5 and upright 11 enables the picker to turnreadily frem one rdw of cotton to the other without loss of time and also facilitates the steering of the ma-. (Bl-ripe, which is very readilyzuzeomplished, as

to ken into either row, and in order to propel thennaehine forward it, is only necessary to shift 'his position so that he looks directly pushes backward.

strains in use, and consequently may he built of light material, so that it may be easily pro-- 'pelled through'the cotton-field. I

By. supporting the sackin position .onithe truck as above described, with the topheid The truck is not subjected to any great I open at all times, and providing aseat foi thei c picker While atwork there is eifected econ siderable saving in the time necessary to 'move the sack from place to place and to open the sackfor introducing the cotton thereinto and the picker is enabled to reach the cotton upon the plants in either row with less stooping;

hours even experienced pickers become so v wearied by the frequent stooping that they can no longer pick cotton at a. high rate ofspeed. Consequently by minimizing the stoo ping necessary in picking cotton the picker is enabled to do his work with considerably less fatigue and necessarily to continue longer at work at a maximum speed than otherwise.

The provision of the sunshade on the upright 11 adds but little to the Weight of the apparatus, and the protection afforded thereby to the picker relieves the picker of much of the discomfort occasioned by the heat of the sun, and thus conserves his energy to a considerable degree.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my invent1on,whatlcla1m'as new,

and desire to secure by Letters Patenais- 1. In adeviceof the class described, a pair of uprights, a cross-bar connecting the upper ends of said uprights, supporting-wheels at the lower ends of thesame, a vertical bar spaced from said uprights,.spacing rods and.

braces, a sack-supporting platform suspended from the cross-bar connecting the uprights, a wheel-supported upright having hinge con: nection with the vertical bar spaced from the uprights, and seat-supporting means at the I lower end of said wheel-supported upright.

2. A cotton-pickers truck includinga Wheelsupported frame, a sack-supporting platform suspended from said-frame, a vertically-dis- IIO posed bar spaced from and connected with said frame, a wheel-supported upright connected hingedly with said bar, a seatsupporting frame connected with the lower end of said upright and affording bearings for the .wheel supporting the latter, and a canopy connected adjustably with said upright, above the seat.

In testimony thatl claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aiii xed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAKOB FRANEK. Witnesses:

Emit. FnUKA, W5 0. le'rrncsoN. 

